Preston’s first average speed cameras are now live – motorists have been warned.

The first in a planned series of average speed cameras have been installed and tested, and are now being used for enforcement on London Road near the Capitol Centre.

Average speed cameras on the A6 London Road, Preston. Pictured are Damien kitchen from Lancashire Police and Rhi Leeds from the Lancashire Road Safety Partnership. Photo: Lancashire Police

Work is continuing on cameras in seven other sites across the county, with all of them expected to be operational by the end of the year.

The camera sites, which also include Brockholes Brow in Preston, Preston New Road and Head Dyke Lane in Pilling, have been chosen because of their high accident rates.

The cameras will use number plate recognition technology to detect vehicles and calculate their average speed by measuring the time taken to travel between fixed points of a known distance apart. Average speed check signage will be used to inform drivers that they are entering an average speed control zone.

Lancashire Constabulary’s Assistant Chief Constable Tim Jacques, Chair of the Lancashire Road Safety Partnership, said: “These routes all have a significant record of collisions resulting in both death and serious injury. It is our aim to reduce these numbers and for all drivers to adhere to the safe speed limits. With the first route now live, we want road users to comply with the limit. During our test phase over the past few weeks, an average of 100 motorists a day would have been detected speeding by the cameras.

County Councillor John Fillis, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “While we’ve made a great deal of progress in reducing the overall number of casualties there are some roads in Lancashire where the record of serious speed related incidents remains high, despite considerable investment in targeted safety engineering measures.”

The other seven routes are:

A565 Southport New Road – installation is now underway. There will be minimal traffic disruption including some overnight lane closures and/or temporary traffic signals over the coming weeks as this work is on-going.

A583 Preston New Road - installation due to commence October 2017.

A588 Head Dyke Lane, Pilling - installation due to commence April 2017.